An inspirational and dedicated individual from Romania, Petre was one of the first ever students to study the ground-breaking degree in performance for deaf actors at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Born in Edinburgh, JD grew up in the Scottish Borders. In 2015 he was one of only 22 students worldwide to be accepted onto an MFA in Dramatic Writing at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Ben graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as a recipient of the Perth Festival of the Arts Award, and went on to study an MA in Directing Fiction at the National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield.